This Leek and Smoked Mackerel Quiche makes such a lovely lunch alongside a fresh green salad and some fresh sliced tomatoes sprinkled with a little salt and balsamic vinegar.
Smoked mackerel has to be one of the best ‘ready meals’ you can pick up at the supermarket.
Its flavour is sublime and it can elevate a simple salad or baguette from the mundane to the fabulous in a nanosecond.
With our new hens recently coming into lay (dang, how I’ve missed fresh eggs!) I had a small but glorious backlog of eggs that needed using up.
And that is how this delicious little tart came to be.
You can probably tell I was in a hurry to eat by the obvious lack of whisking that the eggs got, and the use of ready made pastry but do you know what, who cares.
It still tasted great and left us feeling content as well as full.
Home made food doesn’t have to be ‘perfect’.
Sometimes by its very nature it has to be quick or easy or simple beyond means.
For this quiche I didn’t add any milk to the eggs, but you can feel free to if you’d prefer.
You’ll end up with a slightly lighter filling.
Rather than precise quantities for this one, I’ve left it pretty open depending on the size your tin and how many mouths you have to feed.
If your tin is particularly large, or you have an army to feed, I’d add in a couple more mackerel fillets.
And if you’d like some more packed lunch inspo, take a peep at this entire category dedicated to it: Packed Lunch Recipes
Or if you’d like to head directly to one of my readers favourite recipes, check out this Authentic British Pork Pie recipe. It’s divine!
- 1/2 lb shortcrust pastry Enough to line a baking dish or quiche tin I used used half a block of ready made
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 onion sliced
- 1 leek cleaned & sliced
- 2 fillets smoked mackerel deskinned, deboned and broken into chunks
- 6 eggs
- Salt & pepper
- Preheat the oven to 180/350/gas 4.
- If your pastry is in the fridge, get it out and bring up to room temp about 30 minutes before you start baking. If you're making your pastry from scratch then consider yourself fabulous.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan and gently fry the onion for 5-10 minutes to bring out the sweet flavour. Add in the leek and cook for a few more minutes.
- Beat your eggs together with a little salt and pepper and leave to one side.
- Roll out the pastry to around the width of a £1 coin and line your baking tin with it.
- When the onion is well cooked and the leek is no longer raw, tip into the pastry case.
- Add the chunks of smoked mackerel evenly around the dish and pour over the beaten egg.
- Bake for 30 - 40 minutes or until the quiche no longer looks wet and the centre gives only a very slight wobble when shaken (this will firm up fully as it cools).
- Let cool in the tin, then turn out enjoy warm or cold.
Emma says
Wow I’ve never come across mackerel in a quiche before! It is my favourite fish by a long way so I am always looking of new ways to use it. Fantastic recipe.
Jane Sarchet says
Aww, thanks Emma! You’re going to love it in a quiche, and if you want to clean the dish up a bit, omit the pastry and you’ll have superb frittata too :)
Janie x
Glamorous Glutton says
I bet this tastes amazing. I love a quiche especially with really freshly laid eggs. GG
Janice says
I love how you’ve baked the quiche in an old fashioned pie dish, it looks great. Smoked Mackerel is one of my favourite ingredients for quick dishes too, it packs so much flavour – total yum!
Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours says
I adore smoked mackerel and this is just glorious Janie! I cannot wait to make it!
Jane Sarchet says
Ah, thanks Helen! I hope you love as much as I do :)
Janie x
Emma @ Adventures of a London Kiwi says
This is going straight into my ‘winter lunch’ cooking list! Yum!!
Heidi Roberts says
That’s a great idea for a quiche – those flavours work well together.
Jane Sarchet says
Thanks Heidi, and you’re right – they do!
Janie x
Emily says
What a gorgeous combination. I love seafood and leeks would go so well with mackerel x